Despite enormous challenges, OCHA and other humanitarian organizations continued to press for access in war-torn Syria, reaching an average of more than 5 million people in need each month in 2018. Syria continued to face protection and access challenges in areas such as Idlib, eastern Ghouta and southern Syria. More than 1.5 million people were newly displaced in 2018 as the crisis entered its eighth year.

The Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator (ERC), Mark Lowcock, visited Syria twice in 2018 to push for sustained access to the 13.1 million people in need. In November, an inter-agency convoy delivered aid for more than 40,000 people in the Rukban settlement on the Syria-Jordan border – the first time that assistance was provided in the area from inside Syria.